The national leadership of the PDP has alleged that there is a plan to assassinate Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State.

It said that if the killing had happened, the Federal Government and the security agencies would have blamed it on what it referred to as “accidental discharge.”

The National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, spoke with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday after the meeting of the party’s National Working Committee.

Secondus spoke in reaction to the alleged invasion of the Ekiti State Government House by security agents in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday.

“In fact, we have been made aware that the invasion was a plot to assassinate Governor Fayose and blame it on accidental discharge by one of the policemen. What happened today is a coup against democracy,” he said.

He added, “The situation in Ekiti State has reinforced the signpost of a manifest desire by the APC and its leaders to subdue the resilient spirit of Nigerians and set up a totalitarian regime in our country.

“This morning, in its desperation to forcefully take over Ekiti State, the APC-led Federal Government deployed armed police personnel, who blocked the Ekiti State Government House, attacked and placed the democratically-elected governor of Ekiti State, Governor Ayodele Fayose, under house arrest. At the moment, no one goes in or out of the Government House.

“The invading police squad sacked the official security at the Government House, fired sporadically into the premises during which Governor Fayose was beaten up by policemen and brought down by volleys of tear gas while several others were injured.

“This, we have been informed, is part of the ‘order from above,’ in line with the earlier boast by the Buhari-led APC, to “cage” Governor Fayose ahead of the July 14, 2018 Ekiti governorship election, so as to grant their agents a field day to rig the election.”

The PDP chairman alleged further that the siege on an elected governor and a government house was a recipe for violence and a complete attack on the democratic order.

He added that it was a direct assault on the corporate existence of Ekiti and its people as a federating part of the nation.

Secondus alleged that the incident was part of the desperate effort by the APC-led Federal Government to intimidate, subjugate, frighten and overawe the people and unleash a rigging mechanism for the election.

He warned thugs which he alleged were imported from neigbouring states to note that they were in Ekiti at their own peril, adding that the Ekiti people and residents knew themselves and would never allow any stranger to participate in the electoral process.

“Any attempt by anybody to test the will of the people might be faced with dire consequences,” he warned.

But former President Goodluck Jonathan has called for caution over the activities of security agencies deployed to Ekiti ahead of the Saturday’s governorship election.

The ex-President’s appeal followed Wednesday’s alleged manhandling of some people including Fayose in Ado Ekiti allegedly by security operatives.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his spokesman, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, the former President said, “I am appealing to the security agencies deployed in Ekiti State for the governorship election to carry out their duties according to the laws of the land by securing the state in a manner that will enhance a peaceful electoral process.

“If it is true that the state Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, was assaulted as reported in the media, my appeal is that such should not be allowed to happen again, since the governor’s constitutional immunity guarantees that he should be given official protection to freely conduct the business of governing the state.”

The former President further charged the security agencies to not only strive to protect the laws of the land, but also seek to prevent any development that could negatively impact on the process of deepening the nation’s democracy.

Atiku says Ekiti incident appalling

Also, a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, said he was appalled at the images coming out of Ekiti in the last few hours.

Atiku said in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday that incidents such as experienced in Ekiti were uncivil assaults on democracy and “fall short of democratic best practices.”

The PDP presidential aspirant said that the current administration came into being because the preceding PDP Federal Government ensured free and fair elections at all levels.

He said, “Having been a beneficiary of such propriety, it is incumbent on the Federal Government not to deprive others of the ladder it was provided by its predecessors.

“Free, fair and credible elections are not a privilege. They are a right! The peaceful congregating of the good people of Ekiti State, be they members of the All Progressives Congress or the Peoples Democratic Party or of any other party, must be allowed by the Federal Government.”

Atiku observed that it was not in the place of government to harass, intimidate, hound and humiliate political opponents in an election.

He said what government should do was to provide a level playing field and guarantee the security of the electorate and the principal political actors in the election.

According to him, “The immunity that a president enjoys under the constitution is the same immunity being enjoyed by a state governor, thus it is an aberration to democratic norms and practices in a federal system of government that one layer of government should muscle out another government on account of political differences.

“The democracy and fundamental human rights that Nigerians enjoy today were earned at a very high price.

“Instructions must be immediately given to all law enforcement bodies on the ground in Ekiti State to act in the best interest of Nigeria,” Atiku added.

He stressed that anything that would put democracy in jeopardy in Ekiti or anywhere else in Nigeria should be stopped forthwith.

Atiku urged those with powers over the security forces to be aware that the world was watching, reminding that democracy and freedom were inalienable rights of the Nigerian people which the PDP guaranteed for 16 years.

“It is too late in the day for anyone to think they can put that genie back into the bottle,” he said.